The Dumbing Down Of America

We hear quite often this term, "the dumbing down of America" in the arena of education. Teachers are greatly frustrated by having to spend so much time, energy and money getting students preped to take acheivement tests rather than educating them. The bottom line is that the level of education falls to new lows year after year. One only needs to read the writings of 15-25 year old students from 100 years ago to see how far we have fallen. Yet, education is not the only place America is being "dumbed down". I see it in our daily language, in our manners and in our dress. The average 25 year old doesn't know which fork to use in a nice restaurant. He doesn't know which verbs to use where and he probably doesn't know how to tie a tie or to avoid wearing a brown belt with black shoes. He may not open the door for a lady or give an older person his seat if one is not available for them.


Then, we come to the church. The average Christian couldn't find the book Song of Solomon if his life depended on it. Doctrine has become an ugly word and protocol is seen as bondage. Why? What's causing the deterioration in our Nation? It's all about the God of comfort. We have made comfort the bench mark to which we aspire. In the 1960's the anthem that rang out was, "that ain't my bag". That being translated for you today means, "do what you want to do but don't put any parameters on me". When we remove the parameters, the measuring stick, we fall into a downward spiral. Well, we can't change the world today and make everything march to our drummer, but we can start with ourselves, our families and our churches! Let's boldly lead once again and set higher standards for ourselves and those we lead.